Edmonton LEGO Videos Win TAC Sustainable Urban Transportation Award

Monday, September 8, 2014

LEGO Videos for Educating Road Users about Bicycle Infrastructure, submitted by the City of Edmonton, will receive TAC’s 2014 Sustainable Urban Transportation Award at the TAC Conference & Exhibition in Montreal in September.

This award recognizes exemplary contributions to the development and enhancement of urban transportation, as well as transferability to other communities.

The construction of pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure is critical to increase the use of sustainable transportation and meet the City’s goals of improved health, sustainability, safety and transportation efficiency.

Tyler Golly, General Supervisor, Sustainable Transportation and Planning at the City of Edmonton, indicated that there are barriers to people taking up walking and biking as a sustainable mode of transportation.

“Our ability to attract residents, families, employees, visitors and business customers to change their mode of transport requires addressing safety concerns, both observed risks and perceptions of safety, particularly for cycling. Studies have repeatedly shown building infrastructure cannot achieve increases in bicycle use in isolation. Education is critical to successfully increase bicycle use and thereby achieve our goals.” 

The videos on how to use bicycle infrastructure, including the meaning of road signs and pavement markings addressed the concerns that people have with cycling. They also played a key role in educating motorists about their role and responsibility in the safety of our transportation system, a key transferable element to other communities.

“By using an accessible and fun medium of the LEGO Videos, we were able to reach and engage our target audience, mainly families, very easily and share with them important messages, instructions, and actions that will increase their comfort and familiarity with how to safely navigate our city on a bike,” notes Tyler. “From our local research, 59% of Edmontonians need to feel safer on the road in order to ride a bike more.“

This creative approach to educating people on cycling is also being used by other organizations across Canada. “The response to the videos has been overwhelming,“ adds Tyler. “We are honoured to know that the work we are doing in Edmonton is helping other cities. We are also very proud to have worked with such great stakeholders to develop the videos, like CAN-BIKE, the Alberta Motor Association, and the Edmonton Bicycle Commuters. Their insights helped refine the videos which definitely contributed to their success.”

Before recommending the winning proposal to the Transportation Association of Canada (TAC)’s Board of Directors, five other nominations were also evaluated by TAC’s Sustainable Transportation Standing Committee panel: Step Forward: Hamilton Pedestrian Mobility Plan (CIMA Canada Inc. and City of Hamilton); The Rocky Mountain Legacy Trail – Redefining Intercommunity Connections (McElhanney Consutling Services Ltd. and Town of Canmore); Transportation Master Plan 2013 (City of Ottawa); The AMT Velostation (Agence métropolitaine de transport) and vivaNext – Highway 7 East (H3) BRT Dedicated Lanes (York Region Transit Corporation). An honourable mention was attributed to Veloce II – An Active Transportation Strategy for the Province of Quebec (ministère des Transports du Québec).

All nominees will present their projects during a session based on the 2014 award at the TAC Conference & Exhibition in Montreal in September. 

 


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